Airlines Can Soon Return to Their Regular Schedules

The Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed at 40 major airports during the country's longest government shutdown, the AP reports. Airlines can resume their regular flight schedules beginning Monday at 6am EST, the agency said. The announcement was made in a joint statement by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford. Citing safety concerns as staffing shortages grew at air traffic control facilities during the shutdown, the FAA issued an unprecedented order to limit traffic in the skies. It had been in place since Nov. 7, affecting thousands of flights across the country. Impacted airports included large hubs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.

The flight cuts started at 4% and later grew to 6% before the FAA on Friday rolled the restrictions back to 3%, citing continued improvements in air traffic controller staffing since the record 43-day shutdown ended on Nov. 12. The number of flights canceled this weekend was at its lowest point since the order took effect and was well below the 3% cuts FAA was requiring for Saturday and Sunday. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that less than 1% of all flights were canceled this weekend. The flight tracking website FlightAware said 149 flights were cut Sunday and 315 were canceled on Saturday.

The FAA statement said an agency safety team recommended the order be rescinded after "detailed reviews of safety trends and the steady decline of staffing-trigger events in air traffic control facilities." The statement said the FAA "is aware of reports of non-compliance by carriers over the course of the emergency order. The agency is reviewing and assessing enforcement options." It did not elaborate.